


The Defense of Magic Act

by ananiah



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternative Magic, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Gen, Hogwarts-esque School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Illusionists, Non-canon types of magic, Original Character(s), Poltergeists
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-24
Updated: 2013-03-26
Packaged: 2017-12-06 08:29:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/733618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ananiah/pseuds/ananiah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>America's Department of Magic attempts to pass the Defense of Magic Act, defining magic strictly as "spells, incantations, hexes, or any nonverbal version thereof, including potions, charms, and amulets." Naturally, someone had to protest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Illusionist and the Poltergeist

**Author's Note:**

  * For [modernKhione](https://archiveofourown.org/users/modernKhione/gifts).



> Actually, this entire thing started out as me writing the thesis to my history paper. Somehow, the Defense of Marriage Act came out as the Defense of Magic Act. And then fanfiction happened.  
> Really, it's a satire on the original DOMA, but we can ignore that.

The Defense of Magic Act restricts the rights of practitioners of foreign or alternative magic, not limited to summoning rituals, exorcisms, 'poltergeist' magic, the use of voodoo dolls, and illusionism. 

-

"But that's not fair!" Edie complained, accidentally sending a plate crashing into the kitchen wall in anger. Her sister, Thea, repaired the plate with a flick of her wand without raising her eyes from her newspaper.

"Well, it's the law now, and we've got to deal with it," she said, voice matter-of-fact. "Wouldn't want to break the law, would we? Well, you probably would."

"You're an illusionist, Thea," Edie pointed out haughtily. "You have to be annoyed."

Thea wrinkled her nose. "An illusionist, yeah, but I'm still a witch." She brandished her wand as if to prove this.

"I'm just a poltergeist. A lowly, good-for-nothing _poltergeist_! At least you get to be normal."

"Well, it wasn't my choice to go off and become a ghost, now was it? And you've still got to do your homework." Thea smirked at her semitransparent younger sister.

Edie broke another plate. "Nuts to my homework."

The fragments of china reversed their course, turning back into their previous state of plate-hood. "Still not my idea."

-

Somewhere in a fabric shop in Boston, an illusionist was making silk appear out of nothing. Thea frowned and ran her hands across the crimson fabric. Where she touched it, the fabric thinned and lightened until it turned into chiffon. 

"Not bad, Tony, but it doesn't feel quite right," she said at last, and with a flick of her wrist the fabric disappeared. "Try again." 

Tony frowned. "I don't see why I even have to learn, if illusionism's illegal and all." 

"Because Mom wants you to learn, Anthony," Thea replied. "It's useful, if you don't get caught."

"Yeah, if you want to change the color of your dress or whatever." 

"Or if you want to turn something into something else, or-" Thea began to protest.

Tony nodded absently and went into the back of the shop. Even though he couldn't see what she was doing, Thea made all the fabric turn into butterflies.


	2. The Artist

"Adelaide Stark, please see me after class," Professor Hawthorne sighed. "Again."

Addie could feel her face flushing bright pink as the entire class gave a synchronous expression of their utter contempt for her very existence. The class would probably have to clean up the room, and she'd have to buy _another_ cauldron.

"Ugh, Addie," Pan complained, "Why do you always have to be so clumsy?" 

She shot a moody glare at her friend. "You know why. It's because I'm... you know." Addie busied herself tidying up the remains of her cauldron.

"Because you're a _squib_ ," someone in the back said loudly. "You're a good-for-nothing little squib."

Addie whirled to face her attacker. "I'm not a squib!" she yelled. "I'm not!"

The rest of the class just snickered knowingly. "Squib," someone else said. " _Squib_."

"Squib," another person accused, and suddenly they were all saying it. "Squib, squib, squib."

Pan shouted over the tide of voices, "She's not a bloody squib!"

Professor Hawthorne yelled, "Quiet down, everyone, please!"

All Addie could hear was the sound of pure hatred in everyone else's voices.

-

"Addie," Professor Hawthorne said, "You're not a squib, are you?"

"No, I'm a... an artist." She blushed slightly as she said this.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, stop blushing. It makes you look like an apple," the Professor sighed impatiently. "An artist? Never even heard of that." 

Addie just shook her head. Artists did real magic, just not _magic_. Of course, nobody liked artistry these days. People only cared if you knew spells and incantations and stuff like that. Little did they know that artistry was the root of all magic. But Addie couldn't really say all that without admitting she practiced artistry in the Chimerian tower while everyone else watched the school quidditch matches and visited Westbarrow Village. And now, artistry was technically illegal.

Outside the Potions classroom, Pan stopped her before she could run away. "What are you, really?" he asked.

"Illegal," she responded without thinking.

Pan nodded as if he understood. "Whatever you are, it doesn't really matter to me."

Addie suddenly hugged Pan, and she said, "Thanks. For not being like everyone else."


	3. The Supernaturalists

"Phineas Arcturus Norton...!" Addie shouted furiously.

"Adelaide Donovan Stark!" he yelled back. "I don't see what your deal is!"

She aimed a kick in his direction. "Didn't anything you said when we were first years _mean_ anything to you?" 

"Did it mean anything--of course it did! All I'm saying is that you can't just blow off real school for that club!"

"What are you, my father? I can go to whatever club I want to, and you can't stop me. I can leave Perceval School if I want. I can do anything."

"Even if what you want to do is illegal? You're not the type of person who'd break the law, Addie, no matter what you try telling yourself," Pan said in such a rational, agreeable voice she wanted to kill him.

Addie growled in frustration. "I'm going, and that's final."

"Fine. Do whatever the hell you want, but don't make me say I told you so." Pan left the commons, slamming the portrait behind him.

-

"What is it, Addie?" Thea asked. "You haven't said anything all meeting."

"Obviously it's her boyfriend," Tony said, and both girls gave him a scathing glare. "What? It's written all over her face."

Addie muttered, "Pan isn't my boyfriend. He's just my friend. And I don't think he's even that anymore."

"I can totally go dump cheerios on his head, if think it'd change his mind," Edie offered. The poltergeist swooped down from the rafters and landed beside Thea, beaming widely.

"I don't think an episode of cheerio-dumping will be particularly productive," said Tony, not entirely sarcastically.

Thea sighed and waved her siblings away. "It's about the whole artistry thing, isn't it?"

"...yes," Addie admitted reluctantly. "I thought he didn't care about it." She fidgeted under the rest of the group's gaze.

"Well, what did he say?" Edie asked eagerly. She loved trouble more than anything, especially since she became a poltergeist.

"That I should stop coming here and go to school," Addie said. Now that it was out in the open, she realized how stupid it was. Did she really hate Pan if he wanted her to stay in school?

"Exactly, Addie," Tony commented. "Sorry."

-

"Pan?" Addie wandered into the commons, hair still wet from outside. "Are you here?"

"Yeah, where else would I be? Idiot. And you missed the Potions homework again, it's a two-foot essay on _felix felicis_." Pan still hadn't gotten up from his chair to face her. "Oh, and Addie?"

"What?" she asked warily, not daring to walk in front of the chair.

He sighed loudly so she could hear. "For heaven's sake, I don't bite. I never did."

Addie circled around so she could see Pan, and then gasped. "What happened to you?"


End file.
